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Today's top stories
Wisconsin voters are casting their ballots in the state's Supreme Court election. It's been the most expensive court race in U.S. history. Billionaire Elon Musk and other donors have spent millions to decide the next justice. Musk held a rally in the state on Sunday, pitching conservative favorite Brad Schimel over the alternative candidate, Susan Crawford.
- 🎧 Whoever wins this nonpartisan race will determine the ideological balance of the court, as there is a clear liberal and conservative candidate, Anya van Wagtendonk of NPR network station Wisconsin Public Radio tells Up First. She says this election is a bit of a test to see how voters feel about President Trump's first few months in office. Major issues are at stake, and this court could oversee cases involving abortion law, labor law and collective bargaining rights.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Democrats believe they have a chance to pick up at least one congressional seat as voters cast their ballots in two special elections. Both seats have been held by Republicans — former Congressmen Mike Waltz and Matt Gaetz. In both contests, the Democratic candidate has raised more money than their Republican counterpart.
- 🎧 Both Republican candidates have received an endorsement from Trump, NPR's Greg Allen says. In the panhandle, Jimmy Patronis is running against Democrat Gay Valimont, who lost to Gaetz by over 30 points in November. On the state's east coast, Randy Fine is faces Democrat Josh Weil. Democrats feel they have a real chance in Fine and Weil's race. Weil is only three or four points behind in recent polls. Democrats see these special elections as a starting point to rally a party that saw big losses in November.
Investors are bracing for Trump's next phase in his trade war, which he's calling "Liberation Day." He is expected to unveil a new set of tariffs tomorrow to match the duties other countries have placed on American goods.
- 🎧 The tariffs could potentially raise prices and invite retaliation against U.S. exports, NPR's Scott Horsley says. Additionally, the Trump administration's unpredictable tactics when announcing tariff agendas have added to uncertainty for businesses and made it hard for them to plan. One of the U.S.'s most protected industries is sugar. There's a high trade barrier against imported sugar. Trade barriers drive up costs, allowing U.S. sugar producers to make higher profits. They also make sugar more expensive for businesses and consumers to buy. This form of trade barrier can sometimes drive businesses out of the country.
Picture show
The three men who work on an Elephant Response Team in Livingstone, Zambia, don't have your typical 9-to-5 job. They maintain peace in a growing and sometimes dangerous conflict between humans and elephants, the largest land animals on Earth. Recent urban expansion and years of inadequate rainy seasons have significantly increased human-wildlife conflict in the area. Chamunolwa Jimayi, one of the team members, frequently drives a pickup truck to guide elephants away from residential areas. Last year, photographer Tommy Trenchard captured photos depicting the clash between hungry elephants and the residents of Livingstone. His work has been recognized as a 2025 World Press Photo contest winner. View Trenchard's photos and read more about the community's struggle with elephant-human conflict.
From our hosts
by Michel Martin, Morning Edition and Up First host
If you picked up a tool at the hardware store and asked, "What's the purpose of this?" you'd get your answer and get on with your day. But if you were to ask that of a person: What's YOUR purpose? Well...that feels awfully intimate, even rude. But a new play on Broadway suggests that's something you need to ask yourself, especially if you are carrying the weight of a family history you didn't choose but cannot escape.
Purpose is the brainchild of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who won a Tony last season for Appropriate, his hit Broadway play. Appropriate is an intense but oddly funny work about a white Southern family that gathers at their family home as it's being readied for sale, only to find a collection of unsavory artifacts that force them to confront some hard truths about who they are and their place in the world.
In Purpose, Jacobs-Jenkins, who is Black, flips the script. He focuses on a Black family but asks similar questions: Who are you, really? What have you actually built versus what have you inherited? And what are you going to do with that legacy?
The story loosely — very loosely — recalls part of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's family history: There's an aging patriarch at the twilight of his public career, an underestimated wife and two very different sons. One son has the charisma and drive to become a successful politician, only to sabotage himself by embezzling campaign money and implicating his (justifiably) infuriated wife. Another who wants no part of that high-profile, high-volume life but can't seem to get away from it no matter how hard he tries.
You always hesitate to draw too tight a line between any creative project and current headlines. The play was written a while ago — but the issues it raises are hard to ignore. It asks us: Whose vision of history — family history, collective history — gets to prevail, and at what cost?
3 things to know before you go
- SpaceX launched four astronauts into space yesterday on a historic mission to orbit Earth's polar regions. They are expected to remain in space for three to five days.
- Search and recovery efforts continue for the fourth U.S. Army soldier who went missing in Lithuania last week when a U.S. armored vehicle was submerged in a swamp during a training mission.
- The Palestinian city of Nablus has been known for its olive oil soap for centuries. In December, the tradition was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. NPR visited Touqan, which opened in 1872 and is one of the oldest factories still in operation, to learn more about the soap.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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